


Unforseen Circumstances

by wtfoctagon



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/F, Pre-Relationship, from a tumblr prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 13:41:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13435923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wtfoctagon/pseuds/wtfoctagon
Summary: Falling for Piper Wright ticks off just about every box on the list of Unforseen Circumstances that Nora can think of.First of all, you’d never think a corporate lawyer would ever want to even talk to a reporter, much less have feelings for one. Second of all, how many times have you heard of a white picket fence housewife who’s been married to her highschool sweetheart of a husband for eight merry years falling for some pushy papergirl who’s probably been arrested a dozen times?//Piper gets shot after barging into the hardware store raider trap and Nora has a pissy gay internal monologue about Piper never listening to her while patching her up.





	Unforseen Circumstances

 

Falling for Piper Wright ticks off just about every box on the list of Unforseen Circumstances that Nora can think of. 

And yeah, she knows, everything about her  _ life _ is a huge unforseen circumstance right now, what with waking up after two hundred years of cryostasis to the post-nuclear apocalypse that she only read about in novels. But even then, there are still some things about herself that she expects, you know, after having known herself for about twenty-seven years (two centuries in a freezer notwithstanding). Maybe based on now antiquated stereotypes, but who knows?

First of all, you’d never think a corporate lawyer would ever want to even talk to a reporter, much less have feelings for one. Second of all, how many times have you heard of a white picket fence housewife who’s been married to her highschool sweetheart of a husband for eight merry years falling for some pushy papergirl who’s probably been arrested a dozen times? 

Honestly, Nate and Piper couldn’t be any more different. Where Nate was gentle and softspoken, Piper is brash and loud— and yet, Nora can sort of see why she’s so endeared to Piper the way she was to Nate. Piper has the same bleeding heart that Nate did, one that cares way too fucking much about other people for its own good. 

Nate was never meant to be a soldier. She knew that. She fought and fought with him when he enlisted, basically  _ begging _ him not to go, because she  _ knew— _ this man, who feels others’ pain as sharply as his own, wouldn’t go to a battlefield full of dying bodies and come back intact. 

He didn’t listen, of course. Because he cared too much, because he felt such a fucking responsibility to other people, because he felt like he had to. Because he believed it was the right thing to do.

Just like Piper doesn’t ever fucking listen to her for once in her impulsive goddamn life. 

“Yow!  _ Jesus _ , Blue, can you be a little nicer?”

Nora glares as she cleans the bullet hole in Piper’s shoulder none too gently. 

“Be quiet and stop squirming. You’re going to call every raider and supermutant here.” 

And wouldn’t  _ that _ be another kick in the head? They’re in the second floor of a grubby abandoned pharmacy, huddled against the far wall while Nora tries to keep her  _ companion _ from bleeding out. She’s got Piper sitting on her own jacket, her shirt pulled down past the gunshot wound.

Piper grimaces. “You’re a terrible nurse, anyone ever tell you that?”

Nora gives another harsh dab with the antiseptic-soaked cloth before she reaches for a stimpack, ignoring Piper’s death grip on her arm. 

“I wouldn’t have to be doing this in the first place if you’d just stopped to listen to me before charging in.” Nora shifts on her knees to get a better angle. “Hold still.”

Piper thankfully bites down and stays quiet as Nora carefully inserts the needle and presses the release, watching the flesh meld together. 

“There,” she sighs, letting her shoulders slump. Piper relaxes against the wall as well. “That should hold until we get back to a settlement. As long as you don’t throw yourself into a raider’s den again.”

Piper scowls. “How was I supposed to know it was a trap? You heard her yelling for help, what, should I have just—  _ ignored _ it?”

“I don’t know, maybe you could have stopped to think, hey, isn’t it weird that an unarmed settler would be so eager to run into where her sister is supposedly kidnapped, after waiting for someone to come along?” Nora says with the most sarcastic bite she can manage as she packs away the rest of the unused medical items. “At the very least, you could have given me a  _ second _ to say it was fishy before deciding anything. But  _ no, _ you just had to throw yourself into that stupid fucking hardware store, right?”

Piper draws her knees up against her chest, pushing her shirt back up over her shoulder. 

“I’m  _ sorry _ that my first instinct when I hear someone yelling for help is to get there as fast as I can.”

“Oh yeah?” Nora hisses, zipping up her pack and turning to glare. “Is it also your first instinct to keep running even when your friend is basically  _ begging _ for you to hang on?”

“That’s not—” Piper curls into herself even further, growling. “Why’s this such a big fucking deal to you?”

“Because you could have  _ died _ , Piper, that’s why it’s such a big fucking deal,” Nora snaps, sitting back on her haunches. “I’m _ tired _ of having to dig bullets out of you every day!”

“So why don’t you just pack up and be on your merry  _ fucking _ way, then?”

Well. That stings. Nora gets up to her feet and takes a couple of steps away, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

It’s just the squawking of crows in the distance for a few seconds. Nora hears Piper shift on the floor behind her.

“Shit,” she breathes quietly. “Blue, I’m—I didn’t—”

“It’s fine,” Nora says mechanically. “I know.” She sighs as she puts her hands on her hips, still turned away. “We were both being harsh. I’m sorry too.”

“No, I...” Piper falters. Nora imagines she looks small right now, folded up against the wall. She puts on so much bluster, and she’s the kind of girl you notice first thing you walk into a room but sometimes— sometimes, in the quiet moments, she can be so small. 

“Please don’t say that to me unless you mean it,” Nora adds, quieter, a little less coldly. 

“I won’t,” Piper says immediately. “I won’t, I promise— I’m sorry. I’m just— god, you’re right, I’m such a fucking idiot—”

“I never said that.” Nora finally turns around, and just like she thought, PIper is sitting there, pushing a palm against her forehead angrily. 

“No, you didn’t, of course you didn’t, you’re always so—” she stops, and groans. “I’m just really bad at... this.”

She gestures vaguely at Nora, in that endearing way that she does— she’s so expressive, always, her hands never stay still when she’s talking. Nora sighs yet again, walking back towards Piper and sitting against the wall beside her. Her shins bump a little against Piper’s calf— and it’s comforting when Piper leans her leg against her just a little more. 

“Care to explain what ‘this’ is?”

Piper groans, thumping the back of her head against the wall. 

“Y’know, this whole... being friends thing.” She snorts. “God, that sounds so pathetic, doesn’t it? Like, how long do you have to spend friendless to forget how friendship works?” 

Nora puts a hand on Piper’s knee, giving her a bit of an exasperated look.

“You’re  _ not _ pathetic.”

Piper gives her a lopsided, chagrined smile. “Thanks, Blue, but it’s… it’s pretty much an objective fact that you’re my first friend in a long time. For a while there it was just me, Nat, and Nick, and a whole city full of people who didn’t want anything to do with us,” she laughs. “I guess I just… I got so used to it, I don’t have a clue how to travel with someone else who actually  _ cares _ , y’know? Used to be that I’d jump into whatever shit I got myself into and I’d be the only one to deal if it went south.”

Piper gives her another rueful grin, with her head tilted slightly down so that she could hide a little behind the brim of her cap, just like she does when she’s feeling a little insecure. Nora studies her, the way the fading sunlight falls across her cheekbones— she’s got such a defined bone structure, Nora wonders if she knows, when the light hits her just right she looks like she’s been carved out of marble. 

“So, you know, I just—” Piper sighs. “I dunno, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, with you. I keep telling myself, no one’s that nice, no one would put up with me for so long without wanting something else. I know it’s not fair— you’ve literally never given me a reason to doubt you,” she says, grimacing. “I’m just— kind of an asshole, you know? Old habits die hard.”

Nora shakes her head.

“You spend most of your time running into the line of fire for people who wouldn’t give you the time of day,” she starts. “You care so much about people you’ve never met, almost unconditionally— why is it so hard for you to believe that I care about you like that too?”

“That’s— that’s different,” Piper argues, “it’s not like I’m some kind of saint, I just want to help people. Feels wrong not to, when I’ve got it so much better than most folks out there out of pure luck. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I just sat at home and ignored everything else going on outside the wall like McDonough wants me to.”

She flicks a piece of dirt off her pants with a bit of frustration as she mentions the mayor. Nora stares, feeling… well. She doesn’t know how she feels. She thinks of her dead husband and hears the same heart, the same soul in different words coming from such a different girl. 

“And, honestly,” Piper continues. “Why  _ would _ anyone care about me? I’m pushy, and nosy, and loud, and about as blunt as a hammer.”

Nora lays her hand over Piper’s. If only she knew, Nora thinks.

“You could also say you’re persistent, outspoken, and straightforward,” she says, giving her a small smile. “And you can be subtle when you want to.”

“Pssh.” Piper laughs, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, right. Now you’re just trying to stroke my ego.” She sighs. “I… appreciate it, though. You, sticking around, even with all the bullshit I get us into.”

“Mm,” Nora hums, leaning her head back and looking up at the ceiling. “I think I get us into more bullshit than you, to be honest.”

“That’s because bullshit follows you around like a magnet, Blue.” Piper says. “I get into trouble  _ voluntarily _ .”

Nora laughs. “Anything for a story, right?” She gives Piper a sidelong look. “Try to avoid unnecessary cases of ‘getting shot at,’ though, for me?”

“Aww,” Piper laughs. “You’re cute when you’re worried about little old me.” 

Nora knows she’s just being facetious, but the flirty tone is still obnoxiously nice to hear and Nora shoots right back before she can stop herself.

“Just ‘cute,’ huh? Maybe I should be trying harder.”

Cue the immediate pink blooming all over her face— Piper flushes  _ so _ easily. 

“Wh— no, you’re— uh, doing fine? I don’t— I don’t really know what you’re even trying for— Jesus, did it get hot in here?”

Nora laughs. 

**Author's Note:**

> i got my friend to beta this and honestly "yes very tasty i can't believe you got me to care about cut-n-paste heteroni" is one of the best responses ive ever gotten on my writing


End file.
